AIR TECHNIQUE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 264, 5 October 1940, Page 8

AIR TECHNIQUE.

TRENDS IN DESIGN. (British Official AVireless.) RUGBY, Oct. 2. In a large shed somewhere in England is a collection of German battle planes. Specimens of all types now in uso by tho Luftwaffe, they escaped the usual destruction awaiting enemy machines which come into the sights of our eight-gun fighters, and some made forced landings and other crashed with no more damage than could be easily repaired. These “museum pieces” have been minutely examined by British experts, who thus have been afforded a comprehensive knowledge of the Nazi air strength; and this knowledge is put to excellent use in the drawing office and operations room where the collection is housed.

Exhaustive tests in the air have confirmed once again that the Messerschmitts are not nearly as manoeuvreable as Britain’s Hurricanes and Spitfires, nor are they so fast; but British pilots have a healthy respect for the Messerschmitt 110, the twin-en-gined fighter-bomber, which they acknowledge to be a very good aeroplane, A squadron-leader said be considered it the only “winner” in the whole range of German aircraft. Yet many pilots would rather face the Messerschmitt 110 than the Messerschmitt 109 single-seater fighter, which is becoming more and more heavily armoured. The German designers are piling armour and armaments on to the planes in a desperate effort to avoid further great losses. Goering’s blunder was to go into inass production two years too soon, and a switchover to new types is now a very difficult task for German industry, ihe British planes are one jump ahead and are likely to stay there. The radio equipment of the German planes is of fine workmanship, but is inferior technically to the lloyal Air Force equipment, and the same (applies to bomb sights. The materials are still good, because all Germany has been starved tor the-benefit of the Luftwaffe. As further additions to the museum are brought in they provide experts with interesting surprises. One Messerschmitt 110 which was brought down had ho armament at all—it had cameras instead. A Junkers SS dive-bomber dated August 7, 1940, was found to have six free machine-guns, which is three more guns than are normally used. The rear gunner was apparently expected to work four of the guns by himself. ~ Another interesting discovery was that Messerschmitt 109’s have recently been carrying lour 1101 b bombs under tho fuselage. . \ wireless transmitter packed m a kind of tin golf-bag is a further find; this is need in the rubber dinghy employed by tho German pilots when they lire' forced down into the sea. the outfits consist of a transmitter,.,about the size of an attache case which, by means of an electric motor, sends out automatically an SOS but cannot receive messages There .is an aerial si,aped like an open umbrella frame and a box kite from which an alternat.vc aerial can be hung,